(Feature)Footprints of Dortmund's rocket scientist

A broad smile appeared on the face of Thomas Tuchel. Immediately before the Champions League duel in Group F against Real Madrid 2-2 (1-1), the 43-year-old coach of the 2013 runners up Borussia Dortmund was confronted with the latest rumors in the Spanish media.

According to a report in Spain's biggest daily newspaper "El Pais", the Champions League newcomer Tuchel was on the watch list of Real Madrid. The Dortmund's coach, the newspaper assumed, could be the successor of Zinedine Zidane, when the French-born former superstar comes to an end of his time in the Spanish capital in 2018.

For now, the future might seem far off, but Tuchel is a shining example for Borussia Dortmund where several figures are regarded to be an investment in the future. Next to Tuchel, there's Gabon-born striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang plus midfielder and German international Julian Weigl and French-born striker Ousmane Dembele or the highly talented Christian Pulisic.

Tuchsel's reaction was professional and sensible as he smiled and laughed out loud saying: "I am with all of my heart fully concentrated on my team in Dortmund." Tuchel has learned quickly about the ways to react in professional football. Stay cool and be ambitious is his credo. The German coach has to date not yet won a significant title in football. But he is for a good reason one of the most sought after coaches in Europe.

Big clubs around the world have him on their radar. They have recognized his special talent to coach teams in a unique and flexible way. In Dortmund for instance, he has combined ideas of his processor Juergen Klopp (now at Liverpool) with a tactical structure that allows both speed going forward and an irrepressible build up after winning the ball. The Munich-based "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" recently called him a "rocket scientist in a track suit".

Tuchel has not only made Dortmund's game even faster than Klopp ever managed despite having to restructure his squad after several key-players such as Ilkay Guendogan (Manchester City), Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich) and Hendrik Mkhitaryan (Manchester United) all left the club.

Players working under Tuchel are regarded to be allowed more liberties than ever before. In only a few weeks, Borussia Dortmund has again developed into Bayern Munich's strongest rival. Now in his first Champions League season, Tuchel is on his way to developing something similar on the European stage.

Tuchel's idea of football is far from chaotic or anarchistic. He sees himself as the mentor of highly talented footballers with wild ideas.

"I want them to see the chance to do this or that, no matter how crazy it seems to be," Tuchel says. "We deliver the basis on which they can do it." Tuchel loves to discover the irrational side of football on a controlled basis. Tuchel himself speaks about developing football and his players.

His deep passion for football makes him such an interesting figure. When it comes to a possible future position in Spain, he is well prepared as he has been learning Spanish for the past two years. Former Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola (Manchester City) is one of his biggest admirers and calls himself a soul mate of Tuchel (or the other way around).

A get-together in a Munich bar sparked a friendship between two football-crazy coaches. Guardiola and Tuchel sat together for hours like weird scientists moving salt and pepper shakers around imitating tactical systems. They seemed to immerse themselves in their own world ignoring everyone and everything around them. The bill is said to have been ridiculously low as both did not even find time to order more than a glass of water.

No question, Tuchel and Borussia Dortmund won't be among the teams that are in with a chance to win this season's Champions League title. But the game against Real clearly showed that Tuchel and Dortmund are about to develop into a major player on the football's biggest club stage. Dortmund was more than a match for Madrid and at times dominated the title holders with a team of highly talented footballers of whom many are playing in their first Champions League season.

After Cristiano Ronaldo had scored to put Madrid 1-0 up (his 95th goal in the Champions League ever), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang then equalized. Real's defender Raphael Varane's scored to put his team back in the lead before 2014 World Champion Andre Schuerrle put his team level (2-2) at the end of a highly dynamic and entertaining game.

Dortmund were not overawed by the big names in Real's squad. Tuchel could be happy about the cheekiness of his team. "This games shows we are strong enough to challenge big teams in football. To come back after twice going behind against a team like Real gives us a lot of confidence," Schuerrle said. "I am sure there is a lot more to come from us."

Now Thomas Tuchel has left his first footprints against one of the big guns in world football. Many are convinced it won't be his last appearance that attracts a lot of attention. Endit